Almost 60 years after opening, StarPhoenix building sold to Duchuck Holdings

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Nearly six decades after the doors first opened, and nearly five years since reporters last spent their days and nights in the newsroom, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix building has been sold.

Duchuck Holdings Ltd., a Saskatoon-based developer, has purchased the building, located just steps from the South Saskatchewan River at 204 Fifth Avenue North.

At one point, the asking price in real estate listings was $8 million. The final sale price for the 96,134 square foot building constructed on 1.95 acres was not immediately known.

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In recent years, Duchuck Holdings Ltd. has purchased several notable properties and buildings in downtown Saskatoon.

Last year, it bought the building and property at 311 23rd St. E., currently housing the Frances Morrison Central Library, for $4.45 million. The transfer of ownership is set to take place on Dec. 1, 2026. The building was constructed in 1966.

In late 2016, the 64,000-square-foot former Saskatoon Police Service headquarters on Fourth Avenue, across the street from the library, was sold to Duchuck Holdings for $10.7 million. That building was built in 1977.

In 2022 and 2023, Duchuck Holdings purchased the 137,000-square-foot, 11-storey Princeton Tower at 123 Second Ave. S, as well as the 11-storey, 156,032-square-foot PCS Tower, formerly owned by Nutrien, at 122 First Ave. S.

The StarPhoenix building — notable for its grand, winding staircase to the second-floor newsroom — opened in 1967, constructed at a cost of $3.5 million. The first edition printed in the building was May 30 that year, when Mayor Sid Buckwold pressed a large button to get the press rolling.

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The Saskatoon Phenix had published its first edition on Oct. 16, 1902 at its location on 21st Street, churning out a thousand copies using a basic hand press. After a merger with the Saskatoon Star in 1928, a new Goss printing press was installed at the daily StarPhoenix location at 220 20th Street.

The building on Fifth Avenue opened with a new, six-unit Crabtree rotary web printing press that was three times the size of the one at the 20th Street location; it cost almost $1 million and stood three storeys high.

In 1999, a new, towering $11-million Goss offset press — imported from France — was installed and remained in place until recent years.

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread and public restrictions were implemented, reporters and many staff began to work remotely. That never changed. In January 2023, it was announced that the move to a remote newsroom was permanent.

The Feb. 11, 2023 edition was the last one printed on the StarPhoenix building’s press. Currently using a printing press in Estevan, the newspaper continues to publish six days a week, including an e-paper on Mondays, and provide up-to-the-minute news online and through the StarPhoenix app.

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In real estate listings, the StarPhoenix building was described as a “rare downtown development opportunity. This exceptional property boasts a prime location just one block from the riverfront, offering excellent visibility and proximity to Saskatoon’s Central Business District. The 1.95 acres of prime downtown real estate is ideal for large-scale institutional, office, as well as high-density residential development projects.”

The building “could also present an option for investors seeking value-added potential through renovation or repurposing,” the listings noted.

The purchase of the building also includes the historic Saskatoon StarPhoenix clock. It was a gift to the people of the city from the Daily Star newspaper in 1920, commissioned to remember co-owner Talmage Lawson, who was killed in Flanders during the First World War. That trench explosion in 1915 claimed the lives of more than 20 soldiers, many from Saskatoon.

The ornate clock still stands outside the StarPhoenix building. It was installed at the newspaper’s previous location, moved to Fifth Avenue with the 1967 grand opening, and turned 100 years old in 2020.

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It is currently listed in the City of Saskatoon’s heritage registry under a holding bylaw that provides a short-term protection from any proposed demolition by providing for a 60-day holding period. Should a demolition permit be ordered, the 60-day heritage designation would be considered by city council.

According to the City of Saskatoon, the “heritage value of the Star Phoenix Clock is its symbolic tribute to those Canadians who sacrificed their lives during World War I.”

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